Art As An Investment
Have you ever wondered why some people are willing to pay millions of pounds for a painting or sculpture? Most people think that they must have “too much“ money and truly appreciate fine works of art. This is often true because if they are prepared to spend millions for an art work, they truly want to have it. However, some also see art as an investment form. It may sound strange but art is one of the safest forms of investment. Let’s see why and how can you profit from investing in art.
Ironically, some of the greatest artists ever born died penniless not due to their inability to manage their finances but due to the fact that they were not appreciated as artists during their lifetime. Many of these artists were not understood because they were way ahead of the time, while some did not consider their artistic activities as their main “job“. Things changed a lot over the last few centuries and today, many artists can support themselves with their artistic activities and works but then again, there are many artists out there who create masterpieces which, however, still did not reached the eye of relevant people. But what does this have to do with investing in art? Well, a lot. Here is why.
To make a decent living, an artist must establish himself or herself as a relevant player on national or international art scene. Some succeed relatively early, while the others remain undiscovered for years. And the works of these artists present great investment opportunities because their works will never reach the price of an established artist even if they are perhaps superior. It may be unfair but it is just the way it is in the world of art and always has been. However, when they become recognized and highly sought after artists, they will be able to charge a “fair“ price too because the value of their works will increase including of those they created before they established themselves as artists. Do you see how it goes?
Another reason why art is an excellent form of investment is the fact that the greatest masterpieces and works of recognized artists never lose their value, not even during the most difficult times which clearly reveal the lessons from history. A person who paid millions of pounds for a painting did not wasted those millions but simply changed their form. That painting could easily be sold for the same price or even higher a year or a decade later as each work of art is unique and there is only one Van Gogh Self-Portrait without beard for example. As a result, those millions are still there in the form of a painting which will not lose its value due to inflation, financial crisis or any other reason. On the contrary, history shows that exceptional works of art are among the very few things that retain their value in difficult times.